To Find Your Place
by hrhowling
Summary: Lucille Perfide is caught in the crossfires of several battles at once, and they've all merged into a multi-headed beast that has attacked her life full force and sent it crashing down around her...(Full Summary inside) (Rated T to be safe)
1. Prologue

_**Full Summary: ****"Do you... do you remember me?"**_

_**"...I don't know."**_

_**"My boys... I thought you were dead... My poor, sweet boys!"**_

_**"Father, it's okay... It's okay..."**_

_**Lucille Perfide is caught in the crossfires of several battles at once, and they've all merged into a multi-headed beast that has attacked her life full force and sent it crashing down around her. Her father who believed her and her siblings to be dead is slowly falling apart, and she cannot ignore the desperate plea of a war veteran who is working himself to the bone to try and repair the shattered foundations of his best friend's life. She may be a godling training for a degree in psychology, but deep down she's just a scared little girl who is trying to find her place in the world... ...But what if she's already there?**_

* * *

><p><strong>Hey everyone! Yet another fandom, yet another fanfiction! Woo!<strong>

**Okay, so this fanfiction is slightly AU; Loki never took over Asguard. Odin decided to be less of an a-hole and let Loki hear what Thor had to say. Then he reverted back to a-hole mode and kicked him out. Yeah...**

**In the meantime, let me know what you think!**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Prologue<span>**

"No. No! Get away!"

_THUNK!_

"_SKREE!_"

Blood was everywhere, blooming from the savage wound in his son's side. Choppy white waves crashed against the side of the boat, nearly knocking him overboard. Tortured screams ripped from his throat as the colossal green serpent thrashed in the waters in mortal agony.

"No! That's my son! Let me go!"

Green eyes met green, both sets of iridescent orbs drowning in terror.

One went dark and was eternally submerged, the other rolled back into a cold and empty blackness.

* * *

><p>"Run!"<p>

_Too late..._

_CRACK!_

"No!"

The bullet flew between his son's ribs. Violent tremors and wide, terrified green eyes were all he saw before everything went dark...

* * *

><p>Fire. Fire and screaming all around her.<p>

"No, stop! Not her, _anyone_ but her! Please!"

The flames were raging around her, blistering her skin and forcing more ungodly screams from her throat. With each second, they were getting weaker, until they petered out to nothing...

Along with the rest of his senses...

* * *

><p>Asguard's night sky was always decorated with the swirling expanses of distant galaxies, and the great golden city always glowed brightly with the lights shining in the windows of homes (though legends laid claim that the great Allfather was the real reason the realm's capital glowed). However, tonight, the harsh scent of judgement tainted the air of Asguard as punishment was being dealt out.<p>

Loki looked down at his feet, contemplating the wisdom of meeting Odin's gaze.

"I've let you have your moment, now get out," Odin said sternly, his voice not wavering.

The trickster nodded, wincing when the straps of the muzzle that bound him dug into the back of his neck. A guard roughly grabbed him and dragged him away to the Bifröst where Heimdall waited. The gatekeeper gazed down at Loki, his golden eyes not betraying a hint of emotion, yet shimmering with the endless views of the Nine Realms.

"So this is it?" he questioned. "No snide remarks? Now vows for vengeance?"

Loki lifted his lips in a threatening growl, but was immediately hit in the head by one of the guards, silencing him. Looking up, he cast the most questioning gaze at Heimdall, hoping he'd get the message.

"Find out for yourself," Heimdall said dismissively, proceeding to open the gate between worlds.

Before he knew what was going on, Loki was literally kicked into the swirling portal, and found himself crashing face first into cold, wet, hard ground.

**Raise your hands if you think Odin needs to be taught a lesson! *raises hand***

**Please leave a review! They're like internet super-hugs from all the Avengers, Bucky and Loki at once!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – Familiar**

Steve looked curiously at the coffee vendor in front of him. With long, jet black hair tied in a scruffy black ponytail and sparkling green eyes, she… she looked so familiar.

"Can I take your order, sir?" she asked, her voice sounding quite soft in comparison to the person she shared appearances with.

"Uh, yeah, white coffee, please," Steve said hastily. "And a blueberry muffin."

The girl smiled gently, her eyes not even betraying a hint of negativity. "Coming right up."

When Steve got his order and sat down at the table, Tony immediately started making jibes about him having a crush on the girl. Steve ignored them, but kept glancing back at the girl behind the counter.

She looked awfully familiar…

* * *

><p>Luci 'Rogue' Perfide sighed tiredly with relief as she exited the Costas shop, pulling her hair out of its usual ponytail as she did so. Another shift over, and with a visit from superheroes to boot. Well… kind of. But it was enough to make Thalia go crazy with excitement.<p>

Looking around, she soaked in the sight of the crowded, New York City street. It was still damp from last night's rainfall, and people wearing thick coats walked this way and that; some coming home from work, some going there, some even heading out shopping; probably trying to get some early Christmas shopping in. The early November afternoon held a crisp chill in the air that refreshed her from her half-awake stupor – the result of roughly two nights without sleep. She knew it would only get worse as the cold of winter increased and kept her awake for days on end.

_"__We could be immortals! Immortals!_

_"__Just not for long, for long!"_

Jumping at the sudden sound of her ringtone (she'd have to change that soon, what with Christmas coming around), Luci immediately brought it out and answered. It was her adoptive sister, Thalia.

"Hey, Tali!"

_"__Gandur ran a dog over!"_

Luci frowned. Thalia was known for starting odd conversations without even saying hi, but this was a strange topic, even for her.

"What?"

_"__Gandur ran a dog over, and he thought it would be a good idea to bring it to our apartment,"_ Thalia repeated, sounding almost annoyed. _"I mean seriously, wouldn't a vet be a better choice of destination?"_

Lucy nodded. "What sort of dog is it?"

_"__No idea. Looks like some sort of German shepherd, but a lot bigger. Has this nasty-looking muzzle on its face, too."_

"Nasty as in..?"

_"__It looks like it's been rubbing into the skin. It's made of metal, too. Gandur hasn't let me touch him yet. Overprotective, much?"_

Chuckling, Luci smiled. "Okay, I'll be there in half an hour, tops."

_"__Okay. Love ya, sis!"_

* * *

><p><strong>I think you may know where I'm heading with this... Or not... I dunno...<strong>

**You know when trouble is brewing when you hit something with your car.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – "He Looks Like You!"**

Back home, Luci off her boots, and was just about to close the door when a large black shape suddenly knocked her off her feet. The only thing she saw was a flash of emerald green before it dashed out of the apartment. The sound of smashing glass alerted her to the possibility of having to pay for the doors of the main apartment block.

"Crap!" Someone yelled from the living room. Luci recognised it as her older brother; Gandur.

"What do you expect?" That was Thalia, sounding thoroughly ticked off. "You brought in a stray dog and you thought it would sit down and enjoy some tea and biscuits? This is why I suggested we took it to the vet instead. What if that thing had bitten one of-? Luci! You alright?"

Thalia was sometimes like a hyperactive storm cloud. Other times, she was like a rubber bouncy ball. She had animated, curly gold hair framing a soft, rounded face covered with a smattering of freckles and wide, electric blue eyes that seemed to crackle with energy. She was well built, with somewhat broad shoulders in contrast to Luci's thin, willowy frame, but no less gentle and loving.

Luci stood up, rubbing her backside lightly. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "Just got knocked over by Black Shuck. I agree with Thalia, Gandur; you should've taken it to the vet. Ow."

Immediately, Gandur walked over with a worried expression in his eyes. At twenty-three years of age (in appearance at least), he looked a lot like his father. His jet black hair was combed back, but also a little messy since he'd just got back from work as a receptionist in Stark Tower, and his bright green eyes seemed to have sparks of turquoise flaring through them.

"Are you alright, Luci?" he asked.

"Yeah, just a little surprised," Luci mumbled. "What the heck happened?"

"That dog – or at least I think it was a dog – put a dent in the back of the car," Gandur muttered.

"It _what_?"

"I was backing up out of the car park at work and it just ran into my path!"

"And it lived?! That's crazy! Are you sure you didn't hit Fen?"

"Fen doesn't look like you or Gandur," Thalia stated. "So no, he didn't run Fen over."

Luci's only reply was a dumbfounded stare, at which Thalia shrugged as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?" She questioned. "I mean it, it was black and had green eyes, so the first thing I thought was that it looked like you and Gandur. Except… you know… more wolfy. I guess you could say he's a combo of you, Gandur and Fe-."

"We get it now, Tali," Luci interrupted before the conversation could get any stranger. With that said, she turned to Gandur. "So what happened after you hit it?"

"I decided to take him here-."

"Real smart," Thalia cut in.

"-and wait until you and Fen got back. Thalia and I left him on the couch-,"

"You mean _you_ left it on the couch. You're cleaning the hair off of that, by the way."

"-and when he woke up, he just freaked out all of a sudden. Next thing I knew, he was high-tailing it out of here. And the rest, they say, is history."

"You had to do that, huh?"

"As a matter of fact, I did."

Luci zoned out of the two's playful banter at that moment, and proceeded to ponder the situation of the dog. It had looked like her? Pure insanity, but then again, she couldn't exactly say that because her brothers were… well… they were who they were, really. So yeah, she could comprehend a dog bearing similarities to her.

Sighing, she made her way to the kitchen. She'd keep an eye out for this dog. A black mutt that looked like a wolf, had green eyes like her and probably had a metal muzzle over its face couldn't be hard to miss.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh, come on! You guys <em>have<em> to know what I'm up to now! Right?**


	4. Chapter 3

**Introducing... Bucky!**

**And a somewhat OOC Loki. Sorry!**

_**Bold plus italics is Loki's... other half talking.**_

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 3 – Icy Eyes and Charity<span>**

Loki snarled in discomfort as the cold metal of the muzzle bit into his flesh. He'd barely escaped from the Midguardian residence he'd woken up in after being hit by one of their cars, and he was just starting to feel the discomfort in his chest ebb away.

How dare Odin leave him trapped like this?! Helpless, humiliated and hungry, he wanted nothing more than to be free of this torment and clamp his jaws over Odin's miserable-.

"Hey, there, bud. You okay?"

Snapping his gaze upwards, Loki's eyes found those of a young woman in a dark greenish-grey sort of uniform. A strange hat with a visor of sorts over her face sported a bright yellow Midguardian symbol shaped like two arches like the sign outside the entrance of the tavern-like venue that Loki was currently residing in the alley behind, and she had some sort of rectangular tag on her chest with more Midguardian symbols on it. The woman herself had light blue eyes and short, messy brown hair underneath her visored hat.

A low growl of warning escaped Loki's lips.

"Ya hungry?" the young woman asked, presenting a red container full of long, yellow-gold sticks that smelt of salt and grease. She held another one in her other hand. "These are meant to be for a friend of mine, but I can always get him some more. You look like you need a decent meal yourself."

Loki halted his threat and tilted his head. This young woman was offering him food? Yes, it didn't look all that appealing, but it was better than the absolute nothing he'd been stuck with for the week since he'd been dumped in this cold, miserable city. Eagerly, he whined and scratched at the woman's trouser leg.

The woman laughed. "I'll take that as a yes." Then she kneeled down by Loki and raised a hand to his muzzle. "Let's take this off first, it sure looks nasty. Did you run away from your owner? I'm not surprised. If I find them, I'll give them a good talking to about getting muzzles for dogs that don't hurt them."

_You're right. It hurts, take it off!_ Loki thought, wishing he could speak. The woman put the red containers down and took hold of the straps at the back, but immediately yelled out in pain and snapped her hand back, making Loki shrink away in surprise.

_What happened? I didn't do anything this time!_

"Wh-what the hell?!" she yammered, breathing heavily through shock. "What sort of muzzle is _that_?!"

_The muzzle? It-? Curse you Odin!_

By now, the young woman had calmed down, but was still holding the hand she'd touched the muzzle with close to her chest.

"Um… sorry, bud, but I don't think I can take that thing off without losing my fingers. It's so cold it burns," the woman said, showing Loki fingers that were now red and raw, and perhaps a little blackened too. A rare wave of shame washed over him, and he forced himself to look away from the pain he'd caused. Even when he wasn't trying, he managed to hurt others.

_Because I'm a monster._

"Guess I'll have to feed you myself, huh?"

Loki couldn't help but let out a small snarl at this. He was the God of Mischief, and he was being hand fed by a human like he was a child. Urgh, it was probably the most degrading experience of his life.

He was knocked out of his thoughts by the feeling of the woman waving one of those yellow sticks in front of his face. The smell of salt and grease was more intense now, and it was actually quite enticing. Gently, he managed to take it in his mouth and haphazardly swallow it almost whole. He would have chewed it, but the muzzle restricted the movement of his jaws a good deal. Pausing a moment, he caught the lingering, salty taste of the yellow stick on his tongue, and concluded that it wasn't that bad.

"Not bad for fast food, huh?" the woman joked. "Stacey sure knows how to make French fries."

Loki tilted his head. It seemed the girl was somewhat infatuated with this… Stacey, whoever they were. The name struck him as one a girl would have, but knowing what little he did of Midguard customs, it could just as easily be a boy's name. His previous… 'visit' to this realm hadn't exactly presented him with the chance to study Midguardian traditions and standards.

Although trying to take over the realm definitely wasn't a good way to increase your social standing; that much he did know.

Speaking of which, Loki kept an intense gaze on the young woman – who he'd dubbed Charity – as he was fed another… French fry, did he call it? Yes, that's what it was. What did this human see in him? Certainly not the madman who destroyed her home, that was for sure. An innocent soul who needed help? He was far from innocent, but in this form, there was no way of telling, he supposed. He knew what could be seen on the flesh, at least. A large black wolf, with blazing emerald green eyes and a steel muzzle over its face. He'd seen himself in the reflections of glass windows, and he knew that he was starting to look rather bedraggled and miserable, and there were white streaks crawling up his muzzle as every day went past. There was no denying that the muzzle was slowly removing his Æsir disguise piece by piece.

_How long until it exposes me for the monster I am?_

"Oh, you're here," the woman said suddenly, jolting Loki from his train of thought. Looking up at the stranger who'd just walked into the alley. It was surprising really; the tall, imposing man in front of him had been almost silent in his arrival, despite the slight limp he had. Matted, shoulder-length brown hair hung over his pale, gaunt face, and Loki caught a glimpse of cold, steely blue eyes with a gaze harder than ice and crisscrossed with miniscule red veins. His jacket prevented Loki from seeing the entirety of his build, but judging from the way he kept his right arm close to his chest, he'd been hurt; probably recently. And his form of greeting was apparently a half-hearted grunt.

"Managed to swipe some extra for you," the woman continued, handing the two red containers over to the stranger. Loki scowled, annoyed at losing his meal. Okay, it wasn't exactly his. Well, it wasn't his at all to begin with.

**_Shut up, you fool._**

The stranger – dubbed Icy Eyes – took the containers with his gloved left hand and placed them on top of his right before eating them. The woman eyed him with worry.

"You've been coming round here for three months, and not once has that arm of yours seemed to have gotten any better," she said. "Are you sure you don't want me to take you to a hospital?"

The stranger just shook his head before turning his gaze to Loki. The wolf prince felt like icy water was trickling down his spine and looked away. Humans could get quite scary at times…

**_Coward._**

"S'e yours?" the stranger asked. His voice was harsh and croaky, a sign of exhaustion, sickness or dehydration.

"No, he just showed up," the woman said quickly. Then she seemed to have an idea. "You don't mind looking after him, do you? With that muzzle, it'll be tough for him to survive life as a stray on his own. I'd take him in myself, but my apartment block doesn't allow animals."

The man nodded, and the woman gave a sigh of relief.

"Thank you. I-I have to get back to work now. I'm working tomorrow, so if you want to come round, feel free. I'll try to swipe something for you again. See ya." Then she went back inside, and the only sign she'd been there at all was the scent of grease and a faint warmth in the air she'd previously occupied.

Icy Eyes finished off the first container of French fries and put the red container in a large metal box beside him. He then proceeded to spend a trivial amount of time feeding the rest to Loki. He was grateful, but his predicament was frustrating him to no end.

"Come on," Icy Eyes, muttered when they were done. "It's getting dark." He walked out of the alley, with Loki close behind him. The quiet man was a possible ally, and he probably knew the city well. Loki would stay with him for as long as he needed to, then part ways. He just needed to make sure he didn't get too attached to the mortal.

_S__**imple**__. __**Th**__en I just ne__**ed**__ to fi__**nd**__ a way to rid myself of this bl__**aste**__d muz__**zle**__._

They walked through the city aimlessly for several hours before it started getting dark. Loki kept catching glimpses of a familiar tower through the other buildings, and whenever he did, a prickle of unease ran down his spine and he swore he felt the muzzle tighten its biting grip momentarily. A weak snarl pushed out of his throat the seventh time he spied it, but Icy Eyes didn't seem to notice.

Eventually, the ragtag duo stopped at a tall, grey and partially demolished building that looked like it had been in that state for a while now. A stab of pained guilt shot through Loki's chest as he took in the wreckage.

_Did _I _do this?_

**_Knowing you, you probably did._**

"We'll only be staying here for a short while," Icy Eyes sad, his voice sounding vacant. He hadn't moved his right arm at all for the whole time Loki had accompanied him. "I'd rather not stay in one place for too long."

**_He is running from something. Sound familiar?_**

_Leave me alone!_

Loki shook his head, trying to dispel the mocking voice that lurked in the corners of his mind. Icy Eyes noticed.

"The muzzle playing up?" he asked.

Loki nodded, no longer holding back the whine that had been trying to battle its way out of his throat.

**"****Please,"** he whimpered, speaking with his lupine voice for the first time and disregarding all dignity for once. **"It hurts."**

Icy Eyes seemed to understand that he was in pain and knelt down to take hold of the back of the muzzle with his gloved left hand.

"Can't do much with only one hand, but I'll try to get it off," he muttered, fiddling around with the straps.

But it didn't work, and eventually, Loki pulled away when the muzzle bit deeper into his flesh. Icy Eyes huffed and strode further into one of the more intact rooms in the building. Loki followed, not wanting to lose his only ally in this city, and he found himself in a dark, damp room with little more than a ratty mattress in one corner strewn with moth-eaten, dust-coated blankets.

**_He's staying _****here****_?_**

_He doesn't seem to have anywhere better to go._

Gingerly, Icy Eyes lowered himself onto the mattress, and Loki couldn't help but notice the way he winced and twitched his right arm against his chest only to let out a low hiss of pain.

**"****You need to get that looked at,"** Loki stated, not showing any apparent concern and not sure if he felt any.

"Tomorrow we'll head back over to see Zachary," Icy Eyes said, seemingly detached from the world around him. "Get some food then find another place to stay. I'd rather not have this place collapse on our heads."

**_Whoever agreed 'we' would go to see… Zachary_**_?_

_He means Charity, stupid. Who's the fool now?_

**_You! You're talking to _****yourself****_, moron!_**

Icy Eyes sighed, but the rush of air was suddenly halted and he collapsed into a coughing fit that startled Loki out of his argument with himself.

**"****What's wrong with you?"** Loki questioned, observing as a sheen of sweat formed on the human's face.

"Can't – _breathe_!" Icy Eyes managed to choke out, tears streaming from his eyes. He released one final throaty rasp before finally succeeding in halting his sickly hacking. Loki noticed that he was deathly pale, the shadows over his eyes were darker and more pronounced, and his eyes were redder too. "I… I don't know what's wrong with me…"

In a rare moment of compassion, Loki pushed himself against the man's side, whining softly. Immediately, the human wrapped his left arm around Loki's neck in an embrace and buried his face into the wolf's thick mane of black fur.

"I-I really don't know," he whispered haltingly. "This has never happened to me before. I-is it something HYDRA did to me o-or drugs that I'm not getting? A failsafe? I-I just don't know. This isn't supposed to happen."

Loki just laid his head down and listened to the man's lamentations. Strange emotions were accumulating in his chest and it felt uncomfortable.

"I had one mission. Kill Captain America, Agent Romanoff and Director Fury. Fury was easy, but then the Captain started saying he knew me. Kept calling me Bucky, saying we were friends."

The ex-prince perked his ears. This was getting interesting.

"He said… he was with me to the end of the line. He didn't fight back… I don't know why."

**"****You and I have a lot more in common than I thought,"** Loki contemplated. **"You have a deluded and stupid not-friend and I have a deluded and stupid not-brother. Both our worlds have come crashing down without notice and we've both been tossed away as if we were nothing."**

It took him a few moments for Loki to realise that the man he referred to as Icy Eyes was crying. Quiet, stuttering sobs met the wolf's ears and he couldn't help but feel the slight sting of guilt in his heart that came with the sound.

"Can't remember," Icy Eyes whispered. "Can't remember anything from before. Was there anything at all? I don't know. I just… I can't remember." He tightened his grip on Loki's neck slightly, breathing shakily into the wolf's shoulder.

"When was the last time I slept? I dunno. Don't know anything."

Loki nodded. He understood how it felt to only own a miniscule piece of information and know that it was part of something so much bigger. To grow so frustrated at _not knowing_ the full reality of what is happening around him…

…and then to realise that maybe you don't want to know, but it's too late to do anything about it...

* * *

><p><strong>I know this is strange behaviour for a brainwashed assassin, but I have a logical explanation for it. Luci suffers from the same... condition..<strong>


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – 'I Can't Do It'**

The Winter Soldier – or was he Bucky? He couldn't remember nor decide – stared up at the looming structure of Stark Tower. Apparently Steve Rogers was here. The man with the answers.

Was he really there? If he was, then would he help the Soldier find the answers he felt he needed so badly? What if he wasn't there? If so then where would he be? What if he cast him away?

So many questions and absolutely no solid answers to speak of.

He had to know. Who was he before the Winter Soldier? What was his connection to Steve Rogers/Captain America?

But staring up at the tower, something in its name set off alarm bells in his head, and a strange tightness that he was unfamiliar with was starting to build up in his chest. For some strange reason, he wanted to start running from the shadow of the building.

_I can't do this._

"Come on, boy," he muttered.

Clutching his aching right arm tight to his chest, he walked away, trying to ignore the flitting shadows that snarled and leered at him from the corners of his vision.

* * *

><p>Loki whined in discomfort as the muzzle tightened its grip. This had been happening for a while now. Whenever he got close to Stark's tower, it was as if Odin was trying to punish him by tightening the blasted entrapment on his face further.<p>

Then Icy Eyes had had the wonderfully smart idea to spend half an hour standing idly in front of the structure. Loki had spent the past week or so with the strange human, and his companion clearly didn't appear to be in any good condition for living in the streets. He was positively emaciated, with sunken cheeks and ugly purple shadows under his eyes. Said eyes were bloodshot and, their pupils had shrunk to feverish pinpricks due to lack of sleep. Loki couldn't recall one night where he'd seen the man get any actual rest, and not an hour went by when the man was attacked by savage, hacking coughs and watery eyes. His right arm seemed to be getting worse too, but despite the girl Zachary's insistence, he had refused to go to a hospital.

Then there were the… episodes. Loki had lost count of the amount of times Icy Eyes had slid into an emotionless stupor only to wake up from it screaming in terror and lashing out at the nearest thing available (occasionally it was Loki). One time he hit a solid brick wall and left a massive hole in it. As much as Loki hated to admit it, he was starting to grow worried about him.

He was distracted from his thoughts of his companion (he wasn't ready to say friend yet) when said human muttered something to him and started walking off.

Loki was confused. Wasn't Icy Eyes trying to find the Captain in this building? If so then why was he leaving?

Glancing back at the front entrance of the tower, Loki swore he caught sight of…

_No, it can't be,_ Loki thought, shaking his head. _It's your imagination. He died centuries ago._

_My poor boy…_

* * *

><p><strong>Feel free to hate me for torturing the characters...<strong>


	6. Chapter 5

**A more light-hearted chapter than the previous ones. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 5 – Just Another Day…<span>**

Tony had decided to get up early. For once. He'd wanted doughnuts for breakfast, and he would have just called someone to deliver it, but Pepper had ordered him to go get them himself.

"If you're going to eat nothing but junk, then at least get some exercise by going down the street to get it," she'd said.

And that was what he'd done.

On his way back into the lobby, he met the eyes of one of the tower's receptionists; a tall, skinny kid called Norman Perfide. After the famous 'Battle of New York,' Tony had been tempted to fire him because he'd looked a lot like Loki with his jet black hair and green eyes, but after Pepper had talked him out of it, the young man had been allowed to keep working at the tower.

"Morning, sir," Norman greeted. His voice was rather different from Loki's; American with a somewhat Scottish accent to it. Tony was grateful for that, it meant he was less likely to have a panic attack in front of the guy.

"Hey, kid," Tony managed through a mouthful of doughnut. "And it's 'Tony,' not 'sir.' How're your brother and sisters?"

"Fen's just got back from fixing up Washington after that incident a few months ago. Last I saw him, he was passed out on the couch. Lucille's alright. Her sleep pattern's getting messed up again, but other than that, yeah. Her job at Costa's been going alright. Said she had a visit from you guys two weeks ago."

"That was her? Cap said she'd looked familiar. Damn, I should have asked her about you! She's hot, too. Let her know I said that."

"Hehe, Thalia went crazy when she heard you and Mr. Rogers were at Luci's job, it was as if someone had given her ten cans of Cola at once. She's still looking for a job though. I was actually hoping to put in a good word to you for her. She's a hard worker and pretty dedicated to mechanics and electronics. Think you'd consider giving her a chance with the industry?"

"I'll think about it. In the meantime, take five minutes off, you've been working yourself to death all week. Go get some breakfast! Pepper says you've been skipping it to get to work on time."

"Really, sir? I'm just fine-."

"You. Canteen. Now," Tony ordered, giving Norman a stern look that ended up dissolving within moments. "Tell the staff I let you go."

"Thank you sir-. I mean Tony."

"No problem. Now go! Someone else can handle the appointments while you're out."

With a brief nod and a friendly smile, Norman immediately got up from his seat behind the chrome steel and glass work desk and made his way to the staff canteen. Chuckling, Tony made his own way to the elevator. Norman was a nice guy, one of the few employees of Stark Industries that Tony managed to get along with and trust. He also loved his sisters to bits from what he'd managed to get from the guy, and he'd seen glimpses of Norman fighting the Chitauri in footage of the Battle of New York, confirming Tony's assumption of him being crazily protective over them as well.

_"__Good morning, sir,"_ said Tony's AI JARVIS. _"The penthouse, I assume."_

"Correct as usual, JARVIS," Tony quipped, chewing on another doughnut. He had several more boxes in his backpack, enough for the whole team. Maybe this time Clint would come out from hiding in the rafters, air vents and the room he'd taken over and locked down. "And wake up the others too. Tell 'em that if they don't get their asses into the penthouse, they don't get breakfast.

_"__Right away, sir."_

Once in the penthouse, Tony immediately laid out the multiple doughnut boxes on the coffee table in the living room. Then he made straight for the coffee maker.

"Sweet, sweet coffee," Tony uttered, taking a hefty swig of the life-giving brew.

"What's so great about breakfast that we can't miss it, Tony?" yawned Bruce just as he came into the room.

"I got doughnuts!" Tony announced. "And I went all the way down the block to get them."

"Thank you," Bruce said, barely holding back a sarcastic comment. Instead he sat down on the cream couch and helped himself to a doughnut. The moment he bit into it, he was surprised by the chocolate filling that squirted into his lap. "Tony, got any tissues?"

"Coming right up!"

A roll of tissues hit Bruce in the back of the head.

* * *

><p>Thor was the next person in, still in the Thor pyjamas that Tony had originally given to him as a joke. He immediately helped himself to a doughnut, announcing that the kitchens of Asguard needed the recipe for them. Then came Steve through the elevator, back from his early morning run. He'd already had breakfast, but he had a doughnut anyway.<p>

Natasha came in with Pepper, who chose to have cereal instead of doughnuts, but ate one of the pastries each anyway to stop Tony from complaining to them.

"Where's Bird Brain?" Tony demanded, making himself another coffee.

"Right here," Clint muttered, walking into the room at last.

"It's rude to hide yourself from your hosts, you know."

"I was never taught that rule of etiquette."

"Clint, shut up and have breakfast with the team for once," Natasha retorted.

"Come, friend Barton!" Thor boomed, living up to his name as Thunderer. "We shall eat these legendary doughnuts together!"

"Thor, inside voices please," Tony chided, not being very quiet himself.

The rest of the morning was spent with the Avengers feasting on the excessive amount of doughnuts that Tony had bought, generally just relaxing and enjoying the prospect of not having any Earth-shaking missions to worry about.

* * *

><p><strong>I think we all know who Norman really is. Sort of... If not then I'm a bad writer...<strong>

**That last line from Tony is a reference to that famous 'Malk' scene that everyone likes to make animation parodies of. Seriously. Go on YouTube and look it up.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Time for some of that typical Marvel action! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 6 – The First Head<strong>

If there was one thing Gandur didn't expect to come home to that afternoon; it was a silent apartment. At least one of his siblings should have been in the residence doing something. Luci would have been in her room with her music playing, Thalia would have been tinkering with one project or another, or Fenrir would have been on the couch, either watching television or snoring loudly in his sleep in an attempt to rival his uncle.

But no. There was nothing.

"Lu, Tali, Fen?" Gandur called out, his overactive mind fearing the worst. "Please tell me this is a prank."

"I'm afraid to disappoint you, Mr. Perfide, but you presume wrong."

Gandur froze. This was a stranger's voice; dark, sinister and promising trouble. The clipped German accent did very little to help matters; past experiences with Germans had seen to that.

"Who are you?" Gandur asked, keeping his voice level as he walked into the living room. The lights were off and the curtains drawn, shrouding the room in shadow, but Gandur could sense the body heat of a man in the middle of the room along with three others slouched in the corner, and barely see the stranger's stout, rounded silhouette in the barely existent light. "Where are my brother and sisters?"

The stranger chuckled; a cold, humourless sound. "I think you know that already, good serpent. I know much of your talents – or at least as much as history has allowed – and it is clear that one of these talents is the ability to sense the body heat of other living organisms."

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about," Gandur lied smoothly. "Now would you kindly tell me where my siblings are and get out of my home?"

"Silver-tongued like your father, I see."

"I'm adopted; I never knew my father. Now please, leave." Gandur could feel his anger rising. Comments about his father had always resulted in him getting irritated, and he'd ended up beating his brother to a pulp once before and putting him in hospital for the night too when an argument had gotten out of hand.

The stranger laughed again. "You're a good liar. But perhaps your siblings will be able to get you to tell the truth."

Suddenly, the lights were flicked on, revealing the stranger to be a pale, pudgy man with dark hair and watery grey eyes. He wore a sickly green suit and looked like a man who had never experienced hardship beyond spraining a finger whilst typing away on a keyboard. In the corner, slumped over and tied up, were Fenrir, Lucille and Thalia.

Gandur's eyes widened. "What've you..?"

"They were… unappreciative of my company. Your brother possesses some remarkable strength, and your sisters were… unexpected bonuses. All that's left is you."

"What did you do to them?" Gandur demanded, his voice dangerously level.

The man just waved it off. "Nothing much, just some simple sedative. It won't matter once you all get to the facility."

"Facility?"

"Yes. Welcome to HYDRA."

"HYDRA?! You mean the creeps who demolished Washington and tried to kill half the world's population?!" Gandur yelled, letting his anger loose. "What the hell makes you think that me and my family want to join _you_?!"

Another grim chuckle sounded from the man's throat. "It's not a matter of choice."

Before he had any chance to react, roughly a dozen men came into the room through the windows and the door to the living room. They all carried weapons, holding them with caution, and wore some sort of body armour that masked their body heat.

"You see, Mr. Lokison, when your world is under threat from gods, then you need godspawn to fight them. I think you and your siblings fit that description quite well."

"I will fight for my home when the need arises, not when you want me to."

The HYDRA agent seemed almost disappointed. "How sad," he said. "Gentlemen."

The men raised their guns.

"Yes," Gandur mused, his voice beginning to vibrate as he readied his magic. "How sad we can't all get what we want."

"Is that a threat, Mr. Lokison?"

Gandur's eyes flashed orange when he glanced at his brother, who was just waking up from his sedated state.

"It's more than a threat," Gandur hissed.

"Jöry…" Fen mumbled. "Kick their asses."

"With pleasure. _ISFET!_"

* * *

><p>Loki first began to think he was cursed to eternally cause mayhem wherever he went when the apartment building he and Icy Eyes had been walking by had suddenly exploded outwards onto the street in a shower of rubble. The sudden disturbance prompted an onslaught of panic as people tried to get out of the range of the debris.<p>

**"****For the love of-!"** Loki snarled. **"Why do I bring about mindless destruction ****_everywhere I go_****?!"**

"_SKREEEE_!"

Icy Eyes immediately jumped in shock at the sound, cold blue eyes wide as he searched for the source of the sound.

"What the he-!?"

_BANG!_

_CRASH!_

More rubble came crashing down to the street from the fifth story apartment, quickly followed by a long, colossal shape that was obscured by the rapidly expanding dust cloud. Cracks were sent racing along the paved street and tarmac road. Loki caught the sound of a low, bone-chilling hiss, like a cobra's but amplified to infinity.

_I've heard that sound before…_

Icy Eyes was standing frozen to the spot next to Loki, eyes wide in shock and pupils shrunk to tiny dots, exposing more prominent red veins that surrounded them.

"Not part of the program," he mumbled under his breath. "This wasn't part of training. Don't know, don't know."

The monstrous creature in the middle of the sidewalk raised its head to glare into the gaping hole it had smashed into the apartment block. As the dust cleared, Loki could see purple-black and red scales, a multitude of frilled crests and a set of angry, blazing orange eyes.

"I AM JÖRMUNGANDUR LOKISON! GREAT SERPENT OF THE MIDGUARDIAN OCEANS, BROTHER OF THE WOLF LORD FENRIR AND THE HEL-QUEEN HELA, CURSED BY THE CHAOS LORD APOPHIS AND MASTER OF THE DIVINE WORDS! YOU TOUCH MY FAMILY, I WILL CAST YOU INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE VOID!"

If anyone had been paying attention to anything other than the gargantuan snake, they'd have heard a low, mournful howl and seen a black wolf with a white face collapse onto the floor in some sort of fit, and a homeless man in black attack a fat man in a green suit.

* * *

><p><strong>All I can think of is the badassery! Please tell me that that is badassery!<strong>

**I decided to toss in some Egyptian stuff (Apophis and Divine Words, etc.) because I'm a huge fan of the Kane Chronicles, and I want to throw some elements of other fandoms into this story. You like it?**

**I'm hoping things are starting to fall into place.**


End file.
